Birthday Bash & HF Picnic

***Not sure what is going on with my pictures. No matter what I did they were HUGE. I just left the thumbnails on there. If you'd like to see a larger view just click on it and one will pop up.***


Sorry, it’s taken me a day or two longer than I thought to get this update posted. I have just been pretty worn out…We had Olivia’s big bash Saturday afternoon. The party turned out very well and it was definitely worth the effort! Olivia absolutely loved seeing everyone. She even got a surprise visitor who flew in all the way from Texas!


Yep, that’s right…Auntie Bree!!!

Olivia enjoyed eating the cupcakes and opening her presents. It was a lot different this year. She actually helped me open presents and got pretty excited about it too. She had a great time running around with Ellie and her cousins, showing them her new toys and being Miss Social.












I think Miss Livi-Pie might just like being the center of attention! She has STILL been asking Steve and me to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. It is sooo cute! Although…I hope I’m not still singing it to her 6 months from now. LOL!

On Sunday we celebrated Olivia’s actual Birthday. To start things out, we were ushers at church (which was Olivia’s last Sunday to go until spring due to RSV/H1N1) and then headed to IA City for the Heart Friends Picnic right when it was over. Of course Olivia had a great time seeing her heart buddies and The Trudster (Natalie too!). She was also very interested in the ducks swimming in the pond. After lunch Steve and I took her outside for a closer look. Olivia’s cardiologist, Dr. Law saw us and came over to chat. His daughter’s were there too and brought Olivia over some bread to feed the ducks. Let me tell you, she thought this was the coolest thing!








On Monday we had our big appointment in IA City with Cardiology. As I briefed you all before, things went very well! I have been worried about Olivia lately with her lack of appetite and not gaining weight. However, she showed a slight weight gain and was actually in the 25th percentile, which is GREAT for a heart kiddo. Natalie (Also affectionately referred to as, “The Other Trudy”) said that when a child does not show signs of weight gain AND does not grow any taller than they really start to worry. However, Olivia grew 3 inches...She was actually in the 50th percentile for height. YAY! Even though we were unable to see the LPA in the echo, which is what I really wanted to know about, I feel so much more at ease. This was a fantastic appointment. We don’t have to go back for another 6 months and they don’t plan on doing the next heart cath until right before her Fontan. Whoo hoo!



As you can tell, it’s been a busy week for us (no wonder I am so worn out!). Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for Olivia’s appointment. They definitely worked. God is great! I have a few other prayer requests for you….The first one is for myself (which feels a little weird)….I have been having problems with hair loss and a bunch of nodes all along my neck and skull since May of 2008 and a new node under my arm. At the time this first started we were in the hospital, so I assumed it was stress related. However, I am still having these problems and they continue to get gradually worse. I have seen my family doctor a few times, an endocrinologist, and a dermatologist without any answers. My next step is to see an otolaryngologist on October 5th. Please pray for answers to get this taken care of and to get me feeling my best. Also, please keep Jillian (cp:sillyjilly07) and Cassiana (cp:babycassiana) in your prayers right now as well as all of our other heart families.

Thanks for checking in on us. I really appreciate you guys being so patient with this blog transition. I would much rather just post this all on one site, but I’m sure it will get easier as we all get used to this.